Unknown facts about Shaolin Monk

The Shaolin mystique

Almost everyone has heard of the 'Shaolin', even those who have little interest in martial arts. Here are some little-known facts about the legendary monastery…

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There were two temples

Legend has it that besides the Northern Shaolin Temple, there was also a Southern Shaolin Temple, which was located in Fujian Province. However, there exists no reliable proof of its existence.

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The Shaolin God

One godlike being the Shaolin monks particularly adore and venerate as their patron “saint” is Bodhisattva Vajrapani. Just like the Christian saints, Vajrapani has had his fair share of mysterious legends, including the one about how Vajrapani saved a young monk from the bullies.

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Shi Yusan sets Shaolin Monastery on fire

In 1928, warlord Shi Yusan sets Shaolin Monastery on fire. Among the things destroyed were unique written documents. For example, a treatise titled Sanfena Zhang, considered a source of Taijiquan, got destroyed as well. The monastery lay in ruins for about half a century. At that time, there lived only seven monks, of which only three were familiar with kung fu.

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Buddhism and Shaolin

According to one legend, in the centuries after the founding of the Shaolin Temple, a devout monk named Bodhidharma took the long and dangerous road from his native India to China, in the hope of spreading Buddhist teachings there. After travelling all over China, he finally came upon the Shaolin Temple and decided to stay in a nearby cave. Then, he settled in the Shaolin temple, shortly before he based on Mount Songshan, where he founded the first school of Zen Buddhism.

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Shaolin is not only Chinese martial arts monastery

Contrary to popular belief, Shaolin is not the only Chinese monastery, where monks are trained in martial arts. Monks had begun studying hard martial arts and fighting with sticks much earlier. As per entries made by Chunqiu in years 800-500, there is mention of ‘hard' and 'soft' techniques of unarmed combat - the two techniques which form the basis of modern Kung Fu.

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Kung Fu did not come from Shaolin

In China, it is said that “all martial arts under heaven arose out of Shaolin.” But this isn’t the historical truth. There was no institutionalised combat training for several centuries after Shaolin was founded.